CES Tech That Makes Life Better

6 New Products From CES That Are About To Make Life Way Easier

PrintIan Lang

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We're halfway through CES, and so far we've seen some cool stuff -- fitness gear that could change the way we work out, and even some shades that might actually make augmented reality viable. But to this point, we haven't covered the really cool stuff -- the gear and gadgets that maybe defy classification, but could have the biggest impact. I found six new innovations that are designed to make life in the (very) near future easier and breezier -- some in small ways' others major.

Scosche BoomBottle MM

Scosche

If you've heard of Scosche, it's probably for their excellent waterproof Bluetooth speakers. Their BoomBottle series offers thumping sound, and they're so rugged and waterproof you can knock them around and submerge them without fear. Named for their (vaguely) bottle-shaped exteriors, the latest BoomBottle MM actually has a built-in bottle opener for a little extra function -- and credence to the name, for that matter. There's no price on it yet (their existing speakers range from $100 -- $180), but it'll be out this spring.

Philips SmartSleep

Philips

White noise is great for people who have trouble falling asleep, but not everyone likes it -- not an ideal situation for partners sharing a bed or bunkmates. Philips, makers of the incredibly popular wake up light, have a solution: pipe the noise directly into your ears. The SmartSleep headband is really more of a helmet, but it's not just headphones -- sensors understand when you hit deep sleep, and signal the device to play white noise in a repeating pattern, which Philips says helps make the sleep more restorative. It won't be cheap this spring with a MSRP of $400, but can you really put a price on a good night's sleep?

Laundroid

Seven Dreamers

Folding laundry is a necessary evil, unless you want to never be able to find anything again. Paying the wash 'n fold place can get expensive, but what if a machine could do it? Well, this one can. Kind of. Laundroid is the product of Seven Dreamers, and it uses everything from AI, cameras, robotics and machine learning to identify and fold (almost) anything you put into it -- automatically. It works pretty well, but a Verge reporter managed to break it by putting in a shirt the demo model wasn't designed to handle. Still, the technology is pretty cool, and since they'll only set you back $16,000, you might as well get one for every room in the house!

Tractive GPS Cat Tracker

Tractive

Tractive is known for its GPS collars for tracking pooches, and now they're branching out to keep a watchful eye on cats, too. The cat version is smaller and lighter than the dog tracker, and the collar is designed to break away if your kitty gets it stuck on a tree branch or something. Specs aren't clear, but if it's like the dog tracker, it'll have both GPS location services as well as activity monitoring -- letting you know how active (or lazy) your pet is. There's no pricing info yet, but The Verge says it should cost about the same as its other products (about $70).

Aeolus Robotics

Aeolus

Possibly the most futuristic thing I've ever seen, Aeolus is like the butler from The Jetsons come to life. Loaded with a bunch of incredibly complex tech, it's designed to be a household helper -- he can pick up after you, vacuum and sweep your floors, rearrange your furniture and even grab a beer from the fridge. There's no pricing info, so expect it to be pretty expensive. If the laundry robot is $16,000, there's no telling what this will cost.

CabinR

CabinR

It's nice to keep all of your stuff in one place, but doing so means that if someone roots around through your bag, they can rob you blind if you aren't paying attention. Enter CabinR, a startup that's set to launch a Kickstarter on January 11. Using RFID technology, you "lock" the bag with your personal CabinR card. If someone opens it, an annoying alarm will sound. Now, that doesn't stop them from just swiping the bag and disabling the alarms in private, but they'll eventually incorporate GPS tracking technology so you can find the bag if that happens.